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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A little over 20 million people watched President Obama's second inauguration on television, Nielsen reported Wednesday afternoon.

The ratings agency counted up the viewers across 18 different networks. It said that 20.552 million people watched coverage airing from 10 AM to 4:30 PM on Monday. (CNN was the top-rated cable news network, and NBC the top-rated broadcast network.)

The numbers were a steep drop from Obama's first inauguration, which drew 37 million viewers, and was the second-lowest rating for an inauguration since 1969, as the New York Times' Bill Carter noted.More

Rarely have second terms lived up to the hopes and expectations of presidents or their electorates.

FDR's began with an attempt to pack the Supreme Court by adding new justices and a second Depression of 1937. He was rescued only by the war in Europe in 1939 and the GOP's nomination of "the barefoot boy from Wall Street," Wendell Willkie.

What can be called Harry Truman's second term was a disaster.

In 1949, the Soviets exploded an atom bomb and China fell to Mao. In 1950, the Rosenbergs were convicted as atomic spies for Stalin and North Korea invaded the South, igniting a three-year war Truman could not win or end.

NEW YORK – If lawmakers and authorities are truly concerned about stopping gun violence in schools, they need to take a close look at the prescription of psychotropic drugs for children and young people, says a leading psychiatrist.

In an exclusive in-person interview in New York City with WND, London-based Dr. David Healy criticized pharmaceutical companies that have made billions of dollars marketing Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, known as SSRIs.

So what is food fraud anyway? Well, it’s sort of what you would expect. It’s when companies label food one way, but the truth turns out to be completely different. I have been predicting an escalation in this trend for years, since it was obvious that as inflation led to increases in food prices, companies would resort to this type of behavior to keep margins inflated.

So in their latest study, the non-profit food fraud detectives at the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) show us the extent of this extremely dangerous trend. From ABC News:

It’s what we expect as shoppers—what’s in the food will be displayed on the label.

But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice.

In a new database to be released Wednesday, and obtained exclusively by ABC News today, USP warns consumers, the FDA and manufacturers that the amount of food fraud they found is up by 60 percent this year.

So what are the most commonly faked products?Among the most popular targets for unscrupulous food suppliers? Pomegranate juice, which is often diluted with grape or pear juice.

During Senate testimony this today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton implied that lack of funding for the State Department was a contributor to the deadliness of the Benghazi terrorist attack in Sept. 2012.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) provided her an opportunity to do this by asking her whether it was resonable to expect anything but trouble if Congress did not fund the State Department's security needs.

Clinton ran with Durbin's premise and pointed out "deficiencies" and "inadequacies" within the department. She said she has spent the last four years "doing what [she] could" to encourage State Dept. officials "to do as much as they could with what they had." More

Note: In the third try in as many years, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is attempting to push an offshore wind scheme onto Marylanders. The following statement is from Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan who wrote about this last year in the Baltimore Sun.

Annapolis - "It seems that Governor O'Malley's main goal is to make gasoline and electricity more expensive for Marylanders already struggling under 24 other tax increases. He is again pushing to increase the gas tax and to force the cost of electricity to go up.

"The Governor's offshore wind proposal has already been tainted by crony capitalism and has green energy debacle written all over it. There is nothing in this proposal that prevents politically-connected insiders from reaping huge financial rewards off the backs of Maryland rate payers.

"This scheme is simply another tax increase by another name, forcing ratepayers to subsidize a box to be checked for O'Malley's presidential to do list. When the results of the financial waste become clear, O'Malley will no longer be governor, but we will still be paying the bills for decades to come. Renewable energy is too important to let personal political ambitions ruin it."

Commercial real estate developers would be able to claim a state income tax credit for their projects under a bill introduced in the General Assembly.

Senate Bill 138, the “Build Maryland Tax Credit Act,” authorizes at least $4 million a year in tax credits. The bill was introduced Jan. 16 by Sen. Roger Manno, D-Montgomery, and Sen. James Mathias Jr., D-Somerset.

The tax credit legislation comes at the same time that Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to launch a new $3.5 million tax credit for cyber security companies, and increase tax credits for biotech firms, research and development and Maryland’s television and film industry.More

A Maryland legislative committee heard testimony Tuesday on a bill that would close a loophole that allows some school employees to have sex with some students without being charged with a crime.

It's a crime for full-time permanent teachers and school employees to have sex with students on or off school property. However, part-time and contractual employees -- including substitute teachers, coaches, bus drivers, janitors and cafeteria workers -- are not subject to the same law. It is not illegal for them to have sex with a student that is older than 16 -- Maryland's age of consent -- as long as it's not on school property.

The legislation stems partly from a case last year in which Montgomery County teacher and part-time track coach Scott Spear allegedly had sex with a 16-year-old girl he was coaching.More

This is an objective, homemade video explaining some of the numbers on gun violence in the US and how the media and politicians are ignoring the real numbers and attempting to play on emotions. Violent crime has been declining for many years in the US, and compared to the UK, we have a much lower overall rate. We do have a problem with violent crime in our inner cities, including gun homicides, 75% of which is related to gang violence. As we explained in our Appeal to Women & Minority Gun Owners, the current media blitz against guns is racist and extremely callous about the real problems in our inner cities. This video identifies the problem, population centers of over 250,000. The Heller and Robertson decisions originated in Chicago and Washington D.C. respectively. If we don’t give any ground right now, our inner cities are on the way to at least arming the victims. And as the video explains at the end: “Improve the poverty level, create jobs, improve the educational system. That is how you are going to reduce crime in those neighborhoods. ”

Overwhelming emotion swept over Tracy Delp as she looked out on the Atlantic Ocean. She had waited and planned for nearly five years for this defining moment in her life.

The sight of the breaking waves culminated a 10-month, cross-country journey on her horse Sierra to support cancer victims. Delp, 48, of Port Orchard, Wash., dedicated her Coast to Coast for Cancer ride to the memory of her mother and other relatives and friends who lost their battles with the disease.

After her mother, Mille Delp, died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, Delp said a little voice went off in her head telling her to ride across the country for cancer. She mulled it over for months. “I needed to do this or stop thinking about it all the time. I would rather try and fail than fail before I try,” she said. “The first three letters in the word cancer are c-a-n; we need to focus more on what we can do.”More

Major wind energy project in Maryland would create nearly 850 manufacturing and construction jobs every year for five years

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley introduced the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013. Identical in all substantive respects to the bill that overwhelmingly passed the House of Delegates last year, this measure will operate within Maryland’s existing Renewable Portfolio Standard to create a framework that will support a major offshore wind project.

Based on a report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a major 200 MW project would create almost 850 manufacturing and construction jobs for five years and an additional 160 ongoing supply and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) jobs thereafter. Additional projects, both in Maryland and in the region, would lead to a significant new sustainable industry for Maryland workers.

“In this competitive New Economy, the states that win will be those that succeed in leveraging innovation into job creation and economic growth,” said Governor O’Malley. “In Maryland, our emerging green sector is a critically important part of our Innovation Economy, and therefore our ability to create jobs and compete globally. By choosing to move forward with this legislation, we’re not only creating jobs, but we are also laying the groundwork for a better, more sustainable future for our children.”

The Governor was joined by members of the General Assembly, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the NAACP, members of the Business Coalition for Maryland Offshore Wind, other business leaders, and members of the Maryland Climate Coalition.

The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013, which has 24 co-sponsors in the Senate and 58 co-sponsors in the House of Delegates, creates a mechanism to incentivize the development of a major 200 megawatt offshore wind facility and establish a regulatory framework that will allow additional projects to interconnect in Maryland.

“Alternative energy is critical to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, cleaning the Chesapeake Bay, and maintaining the high quality of life that we enjoy here in Maryland,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr.

“Creating offshore wind opportunities are not only good for the State’s long-term energy needs and the health of the environment, but also a good employment engine for Maryland,” said Speaker Michael E. Busch. “I commend Governor O’Malley for continuing to advance strong clean energy goals for the State.”

The Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013 provides the same “strike zone” of ratepayer protections as the bill that enjoyed 88-43 support in the House of Delegates in 2012. The bill will only allow the Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve a proposed offshore wind farm if it projects that the additional ratepayer impact is below $1.50 per household or 1.5 percent for non-residential customers.

Developers must demonstrate that any project proposed will demonstrate a net economic benefit to the state by creating jobs, economic development and protecting public health. The 2013 legislation also contains a $10 million Offshore Wind Business Development Fund targeted to small and minority businesses to assist them in preparing to participate in this new industry.

Working with the U.S. Department of Interior, Maryland agencies have helped designate a Maryland “Wind Energy Area” 10 nautical miles east of Ocean City that is expected to be leased to developers later this year.

The O’Malley-Brown Administration remains committed to creating a more sustainable future for Maryland. Through the third quarter of 2012, the EmPOWER Maryland initiative has saved 2.0 million megawatt-hours, an equivalent of taking about 167,000 houses off the grid. Since 2007, Maryland’s solar capacity has increased more than 700 times, adding more than 2,000 high-paying jobs, and the state has reduced peak electricity demand almost nine percent. To date, the Administration is more than a third of the way toward reaching its goal of reducing per capita electricity consumption by 15 percent in Maryland by 2015.

There's a new push in Annapolis to make using a cellphone while driving a primary traffic offense. That means police can pull motorists over if they see a phone in their hand behind the wheel.

Under legislation introduced Tuesday violators are assessed a point against their license plus a $500 fine.

The legislation designating is personal for a number of lawmakers.

"Because of the fact that I am putting two young girls on the road eventually ... I want to make sure there's every protection while they're out there that they concentrate on driving the vehicle," House Speaker Michael Busch said.More

What New York City was in the 1900s, London was in the 1800s, Constantinople was in the 600s, and so forth, back to Jericho in 7000 BC.

They were the largest cities in the world, and arguably the epicenters of human civilization.

These cities led mankind to new heights of culture and commerce—though in the end each of them was surpassed and some of them destroyed.

Historians Tertius Chandler, Gerald Fox, and George Modelski identified the largest cities throughout history through painstaking study of household data, agricultural commerce, church records, fortification sizes, food distribution, loss of life in a disaster, and more. We have parsed their work in the following slides.

A new poll shows increasing support among Marylanders for abolishing the death penalty and strong backing for tighter gun controls, but strong opposition to an increase in the gas tax despite a recognition of transportation needs.

While Gov. Martin O’Malley has an approval rating of 54%, only 25% of Maryland voters think he should run for president, with 58% saying he should not.

The poll conducted this past week by Gonzales Research & Marketing confirms why any sort of gas tax increase has faced broad opposition in the legislature, despite several attempts to raise it over the last five years.More

THE post-war generation of baby boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - have had a huge appetite on the world, creating "youth culture", changing social attitudes from the sixties onwards, boosting economic growth as they entered the workforce and so on. Now they are starting to retire and this blog had banged on about the effect this will have on issues like pensions, asset markets and economic growth. not to worry, say some folk, since although we may have more elderly to look after, we will have fewer children.Alas, that won't help, as this graph compiled by statistician Simon Hedlin shows. The total dependency ratio (children and retirees, compared with those of working age) fell in all G20/OECD nations bar Germany and Sweden between 1960 and 2010. In the next fifty years, it will rise in all those nations, bar India and South Africa. In most nations, the ratio will rise by 40% or more; there are huge increases in dependency in parts of Asia (China and South Korea) and in eastern Europe. Britain and America are towards the bottom of the table, but their problems are big enough.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Ronald Silkworth released his decision on Tuesday.

Opponents to the ballot question to allow table games like blackjack and a casino in Prince George’s County contended that a majority of registered voters in the state would need to approve the proposal, not just a majority of people who voted on the ballot question in November. More

The health properties of red wine have long been debated but an Australian biochemist believes he has created a drop so loaded with antioxidants that it could treat a range of ills.Brisbane-based Greg Jardine said he has patented a group of compounds created during the wine-making process which he says act as an anti-inflammatory and could help battle conditions such as arthritis and chronic fatigue.

While previous studies have suggested a small daily intake of wine could help men live longer and may protect against heart disease, they have always been countered by those pointing out the dangers of alcohol consumption.

ACCOMACK COUNTY - A church in Accomack County caught fire Wednesday morning and authorities are trying to determine whether it's connected to a series of arsons they've been investigating since November 2012.

Fire was spotted just before 9:00 a.m. at Adams United Methodist Church on Lee Mont Road in Parksley. The roof and steeple containing a thousand-pound bell collapsed.

Captain Jimmy Diskette with Parksley EMS said the church, which is active, was empty at the time, so no one was hurt.More

(Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed an extension of borrowing authority under the federal debt limit to May 19, putting the Republican plan on a fast track to enactment after top Senate Democrats endorsed it.

The 285-144 vote in the House fell largely along party lines, with many Democrats objecting to the short-term nature of the extension.

As Japan and China increase naval and air activity around the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, the United States is steadily increasing its active involvement to reassure Tokyo and send a warning to Beijing. But Beijing may seek an opportunity to challenge U.S. primacy in what China considers its territorial waters.

Analysis

The United States is monitoring Chinese air activity from E-3 Sentry aircraft based at Kadena air base on Okinawa in response to increasing incidents of Chinese combat and surveillance aircraft shadowing U.S. P-3C and C-130 flights near the Ryukyu islands, according to Japanese and Korean media reports. Chinese pilots are more actively shadowing U.S. military aircraft flying through the airspace between China and Japan. Chinese aircraft have also reportedly violated Japanese airspace near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands several times since mid-December, prompting Japan to send its aircraft, including F-15Js, to monitor Chinese actions. ?

The use of E-3s would bolster U.S. coordination and provide advance warning of possible encounters with Chinese aircraft, but its purpose may also be to offset some of Japan’s weaknesses in the area. Japan’s Defense Ministry wants to supplement its early warning capability — its radar station on Miyako Island, near Okinawa, cannot detect Chinese aircraft flying over the sea at low altitudes. As the Japanese government continues to review its policies and capabilities for dealing with China’s assertive stance on the disputed islands, Tokyo has identified several gaps in its ability to address Chinese actions. Japan will depend on the United States to fill these gaps as its military purchases new systems, shifts its existing forces and adjusts its rules of engagement.

DOVER — Farmers, landowners and hunters are invited to learn more about managing deer populations, mitigating crop damage and improving hunting at an event sponsored by the Quality Deer Management Association’s Delaware State Chapter.

The Feb. 2 Delmarva Sportsmen’s Classic will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Delaware State Fairgrounds, Dover Building.

Topics will include building a successful quality deer management program, whitetail management trends, responsible hunting, buck scoring and managing and hunting in small woodlots.

Speakers include Dr. Mark Conner of Chesapeake Farms in Chestertown, Md.; Dr. Grant Woods of GrowingDeer.tv; QDMA founder Joe Hamilton; Kip Adams, QDMA’s education and outreach director; and Bill Jones, wildlife biologist with the Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife. There will also be vendors, displays and exhibits, and pesticide and nutrient management certification credits will be available.

Admission is $5, with children ages 15 and under free. Food will be available for purchase, with limited free venison samples provided by Mark’s Meats. The event is co-sponsored by Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Delaware Wild Lands, Travis Taxidermy, the Mid-Del Charitable Foundation and Walls Irrigation, and supported by the Delaware Department of Agriculture.

For more information, visit www.delawareqdma.org, email deqdma@gmail.com or call 302-542-6323.

The city of Chicago is taking important steps to protect workers from wage theft. Wage theft complaints around the nation have increased more than 400% over the last decade – as businesses force workers into overtime and don’t compensate them. A study out of the city of Chicago found that over 60% of its workers were underpaid by more than one-dollar an hour. And two-thirds of Chicago workers were not paid the overtime they were entitled to. But now, Chicago is saying enough is enough. The city council approved a measure that will revoke the charter of any business found to be guilty of wage theft. Essentially giving that business the corporate death penalty. This is a positive step forward for workers in that city. But workers all across America need help. The real wage theft that’s taken place over the last thirty years is that workers are no longer being paid for their increased productivity. Over the last thirty years, CEOs have pocketed all the gains from their workers’ increased productivity – so that today corporate profits, as a percentage of GDP, are higher than they’ve ever been – yet working wages, as a percent of GDP, are lower than they’ve ever been. To turn the tide, we have to empower labor unions – and get rid of the Reagan tax cuts, which have incentivized the Billionaire Class to steal more and more of their workers wages.

One of the least known constitutional amendments is getting a lot of publicity as a wild card in the ongoing budget battle in Washington.

The 27th Amendment is the most recent amendment, and there are many people who probably don’t remember what it stands for: congressional pay raises.

“No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened,” the amendment reads, as approved in 1992.

In short, the amendment states that a sitting Congress can’t change its pay while it is in session.More

Friday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m.Mardela Middle SchoolThe best spellers from Mardela Middle School’s classrooms will compete in a school spelling bee at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 to determine the top two spellers, who will advance to the Eastern Shore Regional Bee. Mardela Middle will have all middle school students in the audience to support their peers, along with the parents of the 24 semi-finalists. The school bee will be conducted according to the rules and procedures for the national spelling bee, and gift cards will be awarded to the top two finishers. Each school will send its top two spellers to the Eastern Shore Regional Bee, sponsored by UMES, and the winner of the regional bee will advance to the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. The regional bee, with winners from all participating Lower Shore schools, will be held at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne March 2. Mardela Middle is one of 15 Wicomico schools with students in grades 4-8 participating in spelling bee activities this year.

1) Only in America, could politicians talk about the greed of the rich at a $35,000.00 a platecampaign fund-raising event.2) Only in America, could people claim that the government still discriminates against black Americans when they have a black President, a black Attorney General, and roughly 18% of the federal workforce is black while only 12% of the population is black.3) Only in America, could they have had the two people most responsible for our tax code, Timothy Geithner, the head of the Treasury Department and Charles Rangel who once ran the Ways and Means Committee, BOTH turn out to be tax cheats who are in favor of higher taxes.4) Only in America, can they have terrorists kill people in the name of Allah and have the media primarily react by fretting that Muslims might be harmed by the backlash.5) Only in America, would they make people who want to legally become American citizens wait for years in their home countries and pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege while we discuss letting anyone who sneaks into the country illegally just 'magically' become American citizens.6) Only in America, could the people who believe in balancing the budget and sticking by the country's Constitution be thought of as "extremists."7) Only in America, could you need to present a driver's license to cash a check or buy alcohol,but not to vote.8) Only in America, could people demand the government investigate whether oil companies are gouging the public because the price of gas went up when the return on equity invested in a major U.S. oil company (Marathon Oil) is less than half of a company making tennis shoes (Nike).9) Only in America, could the government collect more tax dollars from the people than any nation in recorded history, still spend a Trillion dollars more than it has per year - for totalspending of $7-Million PER MINUTE, and complain that it doesn't have nearly enough money.10) Only in America, could the rich people - who pay 86% of all income taxes - be accused of not paying their "fair share" by people who don't pay any income taxes at all.

Saying that “The category is under review following recent consumer and merchant feedback,” Groupon has, at least temporarily canceled all of its ongoing and planned deals that are related to firearms.According to an e-mail to DailyFinance, all deals tied to “shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting, have been placed on hiatus while we review internal standards that shape the deal inventory we feature.”

The State Highway Administration is testing the sugar beet molasses byproduct on I-70, between Md. 32 in Howard County and I-270 in Frederick County.

The $25,000 pilot program is small in comparison with this year's total $26 million state snow budget.

SHA spokesman David Buck said it's always good that the administration is looking at new technologies. The molasses and brine project will be used to pre-treat roads and pre-wet road salt to help it stick better, Buck said.More

(Salisbury, MD) Most people do not realize it, but overexposure to winter temperatures can have dangerous health consequences, even when you are inside. “When outdoor temperatures drop significantly below normal, staying warm and safe can be a challenge, even inside your home,” said Lori Brewster, Wicomico County Health Officer. “It is important to know how to prevent cold-related health problems, as well as what to do if a health emergency arises.”The first line of defense is weather awareness. Advance weather forecasts often predict bad weather several days in advance. Listen to the radio or watch local television news regularly. When you know a cold front or a snowstorm is on the way, use the time to get ready.Staying inside when the weather is cold and icy reduces the risk of falls and car accidents, but inadequate heating systems can be an indoor hazard. “When people use space heaters and fireplaces to keep warm, the risk of household fires and carbon monoxide poisoning increases,” said Mrs. Brewster. The misuse of portable space heaters is one of the major causes of accidental home fires. When using a space heater, make sure the room is well ventilated and the interior door is left open. Place the heater at least three feet away from furniture, draperies or other objects. Never use one to dry wet clothing, blankets or other flammable items. Keep children and pets away from the heater, and be sure to turn it off and unplug it before leaving the room or going to bed. There are additional precautions that can make your home safer in winter weather:Have your chimney or flue inspected yearly by a professional;Install a smoke detector and a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector on every floor, near any areas where you use space heaters; Stock up on non-perishable food items like canned fruits and vegetables, cereal and crackers, as well as bottled water;Buy a multi-purpose, dry chemical fire extinguisher, and learn how to use it;Create an emergency supply kit stocked with a battery-powered radio, a wind-up or battery-powered clock, extra batteries, flashlights, matches and candles.Winter weather conditions may also present other more obvious health concerns. When you have to be outside in cold weather, be sure to dress properly. “Strong winds can multiply the effects of cold temperatures, causing the body to lose heat at a faster rate,” said Mrs. Brewster.Wear several layers of lightweight clothing and two pairs of socks. Cover your head, ears and lower part of your face to avoid frostbite. Cover your mouth with a scarf to avoid directly inhaling very cold air. Mittens are better than fingered gloves for keeping hands warm. Wear boots with slip-resistant treads to help keep you from slipping on ice, and use sunglasses to protect your eyes from winter sun glare.For more information about cold weather safety and information on local sheltering please visit the health department website atwww.wicomicohealth.org, on facebook at www.facebook.com/wicomicohealth and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @WicomicoHealth.

DENTON - About 250 people participated Jan. 21 in the second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in Denton.

Schools were closed that day in observance of King's birthday, and the event was called "a day on, rather than a day off" for Caroline County students, who could earn service learning hours required for graduation.

The event was more than a service learning opportunity, however. A mock freedom march and a performance of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech recalled the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s, on the same day President Barack Obama would be sworn into his second term in office.More

The courageous, honest words of a man who will be inaugurated this weekend as the President of the United States. With wisdom like this, how could the country go wrong? The spending won’t matter until it matters. The entire world has watched the United States add $10 trillion of debt in the last 12 years through money creation, interest rate manipulation, currency debasement, inflation and accounting fraud without destroying ourselves. YET.

Now Japan, Europe, China and other countries around the world are simultaneously attempting the same solutions. It will not end well. So we will keep spending, borrowing and printing until the entire Ponzi scheme collapses in a giant implosion. Then our beloved leader will use his emergency powers to save us. Now hand over your guns.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland officials will submit a plan to the federal government aimed at allowing them to hang onto about $1 billion in Medicare reimbursements received under a unique agreement with Washington, the chairman of a panel that sets hospital billing rates told lawmakers Tuesday.

John Colmers, chairman of the state’s Health Services Cost Review Commission, updated lawmakers on the status of talks with the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the state’s Medicare waiver.

“I will say that we have been very greatly encouraged by those discussions with CMS,” Colmers told the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. “They are excited, I would say, about the opportunity to see a state as a whole take on this challenge of reducing health care costs and improving care. Now, there are a lot of difficult steps between where we are now and getting it completed.” More

This is the end game guys. When we first uncovered evidence that the global credit crisis in 2008 was caused by acknowledgement among the cronies there are no mortgages in the mortgage backed securities, we sensed it was all part of a larger plan.

People have focused on the bailouts and are incredulous that the bad actors who stole $13 trillion in pensions and another $7 trillion from homeowners in equity and illegal foreclosures have not been indicted.

Well, I have a different point of view. I believe that the Federal Government is the driving force behind the seizure of private property and are using the banks as their agents. The banks get to keep their spoils and the Federal Government gets to keep the land.

As many of you who are investigating the identity of your true creditor now know, the Federal Government is buying up all of our mortgages, and burying the evidence.

The Federal Reserve KNOWS there are NO MORTGAGES to back the MBS. Why the hell are they buying $45 Billion in empty MBS per month?

Well, I’ll tell you why. The Federal Government plans to pay our sovereign creditors back with OUR property and public land.

Hurray! Your team won the AFC or the NFC championships, congratulations and no the rest of us aren’t bitter that Aaron Rodgers isn’t in the Super Bowl*. If you’ve had your heart set on rooting on either the Baltimore Ravens or the San Francisco 49ers in the big game, we hope you’ve been saving up. Ticket prices are already going for an average of about $3,195.14.

But let’s say maybe you get lucky and find a cheap ticket — well, cheap in this case is $2,168. That’s lowest resale price as of today, says ticket tracker TiqIQ (via ABC News). That’s still a hefty chunk of change.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton begins a day of testimony on Capitol Hill before Senate and House committees looking into the deadly Sept. 11 terror attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. WATCH LIVE on Fox News and FoxNews.com beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

The Akron Public Schools Board of Education has given Melissa Cairns, a middle school math teacher at Buchtel Community Learning Center, until Jan. 26 to respond to allegations that she had posted a photo of her students’ duct-taped mouths on her personal Facebook page.

The board voted on Jan. 14 to pursue the termination of Cairns, who received a notice to that effect on Jan. 16. Pending Cairns’ request for a hearing, the board is expected to vote on Cairns’ termination at its next meeting on Jan. 28.

According to APS spokeswoman Sarah Hollander, Cairns has been on paid leave since Oct. 19.

The teachers’ union said it intends to request a referee in the matter.More

For the last week or so, public radio listeners haven’t been able to look at their deep-fried appetizers quite the same way. That’s because two weekends ago, the WBEZ/PRI program “This American Life” investigated a reader’s tip that in a meat-packing plant somewhere in America, there was a box of pig rectums with the words “Imitation Calamari” printed on the side.It’s a classic urban legend: equal parts disgusting and kind-of-sort-of plausible. The exact origin was also difficult to pin down: you know, the reader’s cousin’s friend’s sister once dated a guy who worked in a meat-packing plant, and one of his co-workers totally saw a box like that once. Maybe.

“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins … Society is in every state a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” —Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. … We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting people to eat because we do not want the state to raise the grain.” – Frédéric Bastiat, <The Law, 1849

“If a government were put in charge of the Sahara Desert, within five years they’d have a shortage of sand.” — Milton Friedman, PhD, Nobel Laureate

“The State is the coldest of all cold monsters, and coldly it tells lies, and this lie drones on from its mouth:‘I, the State, am the people’.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus spoke Zarathustra, 1883

“Government, when it is examined, turns out to be nothing more nor less than a group of fallible men with the political force to act as though they were infallible.” — Robert LeFevre, Aggression is Wrong, 1963

“People constantly speak of ‘the government’ doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men.” – H.L. Mencken

“Power always thinks it has a great soul, and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God service, when it is violating all His laws.” – John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, February 2, 1816